Sleepwalker
by Evelette
Summary: When a strange but rather simplistic woman quite literally collapses into Kankuro's arms, he brings her back to Sunagakure. Instead her soft and almost innocent-like demeanor appeals to the intimidating Kazekage and they form an odd friendship... although, in the end, Kankuro may live to regret his decision, when he learns just what she is capable of. GaaraOC


What made up a great ninja? Was it a vast store of courage, or the ability to disguise fear? Was it the number of jutsu's one obtained, or perhaps, the accuracy and efficiency of only one? How is a ninja judged? How do you categorize ones strengths and weaknesses? There were so many elements, techniques, ranges... he often pondered who set the standards. It seemed a daunting task. How does one compare a ninja skilled in the elements of fire versus a ninja skilled the arts of the earth or a long ranged expert versus a short ranged expert? In his mind they compared apples to oranges, how was one better or worse than the other?

At one point in time he had simply accepted such things, agreeing that it was out of his skill level and moved on with his miserable existence. Sure he moved up the ranks, was a rather successful Jounin, had a lovely girlfriend and a fair amount of cash, he had thought he lived the perfect life before his mind had begun questioning such odd things, a guy couldn't ask for too much more, but then... as fate would have it, life slapped him in the face with the mission that had forever drove a scar into his existence. Her old keeper had retired and he had been hand selected to watch over her. It was a mission that should he choose to accept, he was guaranteed to never leave the village, this sole mission would take precedence over anything else they could give him. At the time, it sounded awesome. A singular charge until she died or he retired... they offered no names, no hints, and in retrospect he probably should have questioned a bit more before he had accepted, but sadly he had not, and now as he made an ungodly amount of hand signs that took him nearly a half hour to gain entrance through the thirteen chakra bound titanium doors, this was his life.

The first sign of strangeness had been the fact that the retired old man had been the one to make him perfect getting in and out, and once he had it down, it had been his duty to wipe the elders memory, a daunting task in itself, not even the Raikage knew much, only that she was never to be let out... and her history was bizarre. Little to nothing had been passed to him, the elder had said her history was irrelevant and he wished not to plague his dreams with nightmares of monsters. Wisely, he had asked if she was a demon vessel, an infamous jinchuuriki, the elder had laughed and shook his head, saying only that if she was, everything might be a little easier to explain but alas she was no such creature. He would say no more, shutting down and downright refusing.

The second complication came when he met her. Thirteen titanium doors, barriers and blockades wrapped in enough chakra control activated triggers that even if the Hidden Rock crumbled, there was no way in hell anyone was ever getting through these doors. It was this reason they picked a Jounin to guard her over an ANBU, rivals would wipe the minds of ANBU for information but they probably wouldn't toy with him, and they couldn't risk her escaping... which led him to the next oddity. He had been expecting a creature of massive chakra, something, that if no else, could rival a Jinchuuriki's power... but no such thing occurred.

The room they contained her in was massive, a huge stark white chamber buried deep with the mountain and layered with rings and rings and rings of titanium steel, a cage built to contain a monster, a criminal of horrendous intent... instead it housed a tiny female with absolutely no chakra. Not even the smallest flicker of power. A complete and utter civilian and the old man's mind had been wiped before he could ever fully comprehend why in God's name they were keeping a harmless frail thing locked away. He had never seen her face, or her hair, a thick, titanium mask covered her face entirely, the bottoms rested upon her shoulders. It was chakra locked, bound to her flesh, all of her food was passed through a small hole around her mouth, it was this job that was his.

She stood at a laughable 5'1 and had a thin, lean torso, she looked like a heavy wind would bowl her over. Her flesh was the milkiest white, but then again she hadn't seen the daylight in several years. She had curves but they were proportionate to her body, they weren't massively exaggerated... the Hokage still gave him nightmares. A straight jacket concealed her from him. She had never tried anything violent, her voice was low, soft, calming... if she spoke at all that was, she preferred to sit in silence and her name? Well that was the only information he did give. Gabriel Napier. So simplistic, so plain, so boring.

He sighed as he began the last tiring set of hand signs, he was nearly there now. She was remarkably polite, a sweet, sweet girl on the rare occasions she did speak. More than once he had been debating asking the Raikage why she couldn't be let free, if he would meet her, see how utterly non-threatening she really was... the way she was locked away it made it seem as though some foul evil lurked in the depths of her soul and despite the elders denial, he had indeed searched her for a demon, and no such creature marred her soul... so why? It was she that made him question everything he had once followed blindly, there was something the old man hadn't told him. Something that had earned her a permanent place in the heart of the mountain. He just didn't know what.

His hands fell as he finished the last of his hand signs, originally his fingers had ached, but now they had grown used to the abuse, he only hoped he wouldn't exit this world with the worst case of arthritis known to man. He sighed as the massive, and in his mind, ridiculous door swung wide open. Leaning down he picked up the tray of thinly sliced chicken and corn before stepping inside only to drop the ceramic dish with a resounding clatter as the dish shattered beyond recognition. Every last bit of color drained from his face and his eyes and mouth fell open in morbid shock. Titanium... titanium steel had been ripped away and shredded like paper. Thirteen fucking layers. Titanium. Titanium fucking steel. The mask lay in tattered pieces and the mountain was blown apart. How in God's name had a civilian with no chakra done that? He scrambled for the radio on his belt, punching in the Raikage's frequency faster than he had ever done before.

"Code Red. I repeat code red. Prisoner seventeen thirty nine is gone, I repeat code red. Send every available ninja we have to retrieve her. This is not a drill." Fear crawled along his spine like the monster it was and he starred at the mutilated metal. Just what in the hell was she?

Burning sand licked at the sensitive flesh between her toes, searing her flesh and making the first degree burns that already littered her flesh and the soles of her feet teeter on the edge of second degree birds. Dark eyes squinted at her surroundings, the blaring heat of the desert sun, pulling the moisture from her lips and tongue like a sponge. She licked her loveless lips and stumbled as the unfamiliar terrain gave way beneath her. The clothes, a few sizes too big slapped against her over-sensitized flesh as the wind battered her about like the frail thing she was.

Hallucinations, the like of which she had never witnessed before left her dazed and confused as she stumbled toward unreachable goals. She coughed, what little moisture that remained within her body spewing up grains of sand. She stumbled and landed on her hands and knees, her body wasn't used to this kind of strain... or pain. She rested back on her haunches, face turned towards the sky as the unrelenting sun torched her body. She held no fear, no anxiety, it had been so long since she had felt, well anything even the pain and the potential looming threat of death was welcome in her embrace. She could feel the heat of the wicked sands torching her flesh beneath her clothes.

Her eyes opened revealing a glimmering silver, long ebony hair tumbled in a messy array of curls to her lower back. She collapsed backwards, arms spread and simply absorbing. The heat, the stench of earth, the feeling of natural air upon her flesh, it was so surreal. She would die here, baked and alone by the sun but she didn't mind, she had almost forgotten what the sky even looked like. A shout, a scream caught her attention and her heart plummeted, fear sweeping through her eyes as she struggled to get her body to move... to no avail. There was no strength left within her, she had nothing to draw her energy from and before she could begin to analyze a second escape, a man was upon her.

He wore a headband not belonging to the Hidden Rock and she relaxed. Falling still and silent, she breathed through her nose feeling the searing heat burn her trachea as she inhaled. His face was adorned in bizarre markings, she imagined it was paint over tattoo ink. The purple was vibrant and quite complex. He was speaking... no shouting something over his shoulder but she couldn't make out the words. It had been so long since she had had food or drink, even longer still that she had spoken to any but the two men whom she could never put a face too. He lifted her with ease and she shivered, trembling in his hold. How long since she had felt the touch of another? She stopped trying to think and let the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness take over, and right before her world colored black, the man carrying her, asked for her name. She breathed out the simplistic syllables and fell still. She never heard the man curse or his drastic change in pace.

Kankuro stood over the unconscious female, night blanketed Sunagakure and the vast majority of nurses and doctors had abandoned the building for the night. The gentle beeping of several machines told him that she was still very much alive, he could smell the heady sent of aloe tending to the burns on her bandaged feet. He nearly winced, he could remember similar injuries back when he was a child. Her chest rose and fell, albeit slowly but it remained a steady rhythm.

It wasn't often he got to save anyone, the desert wasn't typically a getaway for civilians, and most innocents asked for escorts, the cruel sands were deadly and cruel. Arguably the harshest element of them all, unless you knew the sands, you might as well sign your death toll. This woman, whomever she was, was lucky to have stumbled upon him. She was lucky that she had happened to find a scouting patrol. She would certainly not have been one of the only corpses half eaten by vultures that he would have discovered... but when they had taken blood, fingerprints... she didn't exist, she matched no known files. For all intents and purposes, she didn't exist.

"Kankuro." Had the puppeteer been a lesser man he would have jumped out of his skin as the gruff voice behind him echoed his name, as it were, he merely turned his head as his younger brother strode forward, eyeing the unconscious creature. "Have you found out where she's from?" The voice was, as always, indifferent and Kankuro shook his head.

"No. She's got absolutely no chakra, not even the slightest flicker, and her DNA matches no known profile." Kankuro responded quickly, and Gaara frowned, lips pulling down into irritation. Silence reigned and Kankuro knew the red head was determining her fate. Sand could afford no more betrayals or bad reputations. They needed to be in control.

"I will place her within your care. Find out who she is and what she was doing here. For now, treat her with respect..." Soundlessly Gaara turned to leave, but paused momentarily at the door, turning back to narrow his eyes in a glare that still made Kankuro shiver. "Do not fail me Kankuro. Do not let this get out of hand." In a whirling storm of sand the Kazekage vanished, the issue resolved in the red heads mind. Kankuro turned back to the frail creature. For her sake, he hoped she hadn't done anything illegal. Gaara would not be kind to her if she did.


End file.
